


Crossed Wires

by Magentas_Nightmare



Series: Merle Dixon Oneshots [52]
Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Merle Dixon Oneshot, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Unrequited Crush, Workplace crush, crush on the boss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:34:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25243210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magentas_Nightmare/pseuds/Magentas_Nightmare
Summary: Merle has a crush on his boss and when he finally makes a move, things don't go as he hoped, but that's not the end of the story.
Relationships: Merle Dixon/Andrea Harrison
Series: Merle Dixon Oneshots [52]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1337284
Comments: 5
Kudos: 7





	Crossed Wires

> _The Cure - How Beautiful You Are_
> 
> _<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf7IuBLjf7U> _

* * *

**Crossed Wires**

Andrea wasn't available, but try telling his heart that. Merle had feelings for his boss that wouldn't go away no matter how hard he tried to stay distracted. Why were all the good ones taken? There were plenty of single women, but all he wanted was her. The golden blonde hair, those cornflower blue eyes, her sweet smile. Merle hadn't felt like that since high school and it hadn't worked out for him then either. The girl he loved then was never single and she probably wasn't looking to get mixed up with a Dixon anyway.

Merle would chat to Andrea casually at work all the time but he could never tell what she felt for him. She was very professional, and yet sometimes there'd be something in her eyes that made him wonder. Her eyes would linger on his for a moment longer than usual and then she'd smile and shrug like it hadn't happened.

“Can you come in early tomorrow?” she asked that night when they were wrapping up the day.

“Sure. What time?”

“Is 7 am too early? I wanted to get this shipment out by noon.”

“That works. Will you be in too?”

“Yep,” she smiled. “You know it. I'm up at the crack of dawn lately anyway.”

“Can't sleep?”

“Nope,” she sighed and leaned forward to turn off her computer.

“You OK?” he pressed.

“Yeah, just relationship stuff.”

Merle was more than a little excited to hear that there was 'relationship stuff' going on between Andrea and Shane, but he kept it professional. Inside he was jumping for joy that the moron she was dating was screwing things up with her. In Merle's humble opinion, Shane Walsh didn't deserve a woman like Andrea. He didn't treat her like she was his number one priority and she deserved that.

“Well, lemme know if there's anything else I can do around here to help out besides coming in early.”

“Thanks, Merle. You're the best.”

“I try.”

He shrugged and peeled off his coveralls for the day to step back into his jeans. Georgia summers were no joke and everyone in the distribution center worked with only underwear on under their coveralls, they'd die of heat exhaustion otherwise. Andrea saw him in his underwear every day and he always hoped that she liked what she saw, but if she did, she never let it show.

She was standing at the back door waiting for him so she could lock up behind them. He hung up his coveralls and zipped up his jeans to follow her out. He walked to his truck and fired up the engine loud and then switched on his tunes for the ride home. Merle noticed that she was still in her car and it looked like she couldn't get it started. He paused for a moment before walking over to offer his assistance, fighting the feeling that maybe the universe was placing them together when she was having issues with Shane. He was always looking for signs that maybe this was the moment and had to bring himself back to reality often.

“Car trouble?” he asked when she rolled her window down as he approached.

“I don't have time for this, I'm so tired...I just want to sleep,” she sighed.

“Lemme drive you home,” he suggested.

“Are you sure? I'm at the other end of town from you.”

“It's OK. I can even pick you up if you want since we're both coming in early.”

“You're an angel, Merle.”

“It's nothing. Come on,” he nodded.

He helped his fancy boss climb up into his truck with her heels and chuckled when she almost fell back into his arms.

“This is like a monster truck,” she laughed. “How does a normal person get in here without looking like a child?”

“You're just too little for my truck and those heels don't help,” he teased.

“You got me there.”

Merle backed up with his hand on the back of her seat and tried not to imagine laying her out on the bench seat of his truck. Every night, he'd think of finally touching her and kissing her...it was almost painful. He had considered quitting his job more than once to work with Daryl on the oil rigs cause being so close to her was hell when he couldn't have her but he was still hanging on.

Andrea received a call as they drove but put in on silent to ignore it.

"I can't even deal with him right now," she sighed.

“Should I even ask what's wrong?”

“He's just being stupid about moving in together. I'm just not ready.”

“How long have you been together anyway?”

“Four months, and he's driving me crazy. I'm sorry, this isn't your problem.”

“It's OK. I don't mind.”

“You're always so easy to talk to. I don't mean to dump my problems on you.”

“I don't mind,” he insisted.

Merle pulled up outside her house and waited for her to gather up her keys.

“Need help out too?” he joked.

“I'll see how it goes...but I might,” she laughed.

She turned to him then and moved over on the bench seat to hug him, she never hugged him before and it took him by surprise.

“You're a good guy, Merle. I feel like I can always count on you and that means a lot to me.”

“I just wanna be there for you if I can, Andrea.”

He was intoxicated by the scent of her hair and the sensation of her soft cheek against his neck...he told himself later that what happened was reasonable, that he hadn't misread everything, but the truth was that he was overcome and just screwed up.

She backed up and smiled at him then and the moment lingered just long enough for him to think she wanted something that she didn't. Merle moved in and kissed her softly and it felt just as he hoped. His heart exploded with happiness...and then she backed away.

“I'm so sorry, I can't do this,” she whispered.

“Jesus...I'm sorry, Andrea.”

“It's OK, I just can't be one of those people who cheat. I've been cheated on in the past.”

“Please just forget I did that,” he pleaded. “I just lost my head for a minute.”

The silence was agony and he dropped his head to the steering wheel.

"I didn't know you even thought of me like that," she almost whispered.

"Just forget it, I must be outta my mind tonight."

"Merle..."

"I feel like an idiot right now, you don't have to say anything."

“But-”

“Seriously, it's OK. I need to just go crawl under a rock now,” he sighed.

“I'm sorry, Merle.”

She opened the door to his truck and slowly slipped out as he began to kick himself harder than he ever had before. What the hell was he thinking?

Merle drove away the moment she was on the path up to her door. He knew immediately that he couldn't see her again. For months he'd been dreaming of her and now he'd gone and blown it good. Merle never wanted a taken woman before and it was nothing but heartache. He fought it as long as he could, but he knew he could make her happy...or at least that's what he thought until he tried to kiss her. She didn't feel it too, all the looks and kind words he'd taken for flirtation were just her being a nice boss. He was an idiot and he couldn't go back. Merle pulled over to the shoulder before he even got home and texted his resignation.

_**I'm sorry for not giving you proper notice, but I can't come back to work after tonight. I'm embarrassed by my behavior and I just can't be around you now. I hope it all works out for you and Shane and that you find someone to replace me fast at work, my buddy Axel who filled in over Christmas is out of work at the moment so maybe you could call him up. Merle** _

He hit send before he could change his mind and almost wanted to cry, but he refused to let himself go there. Instead, he stopped to grab some beer and drove home. He was just stepping out of his jeans when he heard a text notification and groaned to himself.

_**Merle, please don't quit! I need to talk to you. Please call me.** _

He couldn't do it, not when he wanted so much more and it was killing him to pretend. He called Daryl and said he'd join him on the rigs out of town as long as he wanted. Daryl was foreman of a crew that worked 10 days on and 2 days off. Merle would be able to disappear for a long time and make some good money in the process. He needed to work and forget, but first he needed to get drunk out of his mind. He cracked a beer and looked at his phone again, he needed a clean break.

_**You were always a great boss and I appreciate everything you did for me. I just wanted something that you didn't and I shouldn't have kissed you, I'm really sorry. It's going to hurt like hell to see you now and I'm just not up for it.** _

He blocked her number then and decided to put his feelings for her on a high shelf where they couldn't hurt him anymore. Merle had a way of dealing with pain and running from it was step 1, step 2 involved a lot of booze. It had been his go-to method for dealing with pain all his life and he still hadn't figured out a better way. Merle didn't stop drinking till he was singing Hank Williams at the top of his lungs and his neighbor was pounding on the door for him to shut the fuck up.

###################################

He woke up that morning in a puddle of drool and sweat and knew he had to get his life together. He met Daryl out at the temporary work camp that afternoon after sobering up and worked his ass off for 6 weeks straight. Being at the work camp was great, there were no women and nothing to remind him of Andrea. The money was crazy good and he could even afford to take some time off before looking for another job when he got back to town. Merle told Daryl all about his fuck up and he understood, most men had been there at least once.

Merle was feeling human again when he got back to Atlanta and had a spring in his step. He stopped for a hot shave and a haircut on his first day back and put on a clean shirt and new pair of jeans to go shopping. He wanted a nice steak and some good whisky so he headed to the grocery store and walked up and down the aisles with his cart picking up anything that looked good. His bank account was flushed and everything was going right...and then there she was.

Merle turned in the other direction and walked faster, Andrea was the last person he needed to see when he was finally feeling good again. She looked incredible and he couldn't take getting any closer to her. Merle was standing at the back of the store next to a stack of diapers and baby formula when she almost walked right into him from behind.

“Merle!”

“Oh! Hey, Andrea...how's it going?”

“Where did you go?” she exclaimed.

Apparently she had been concerned about his whereabouts.

“I went working out of town with my brother.”

He groaned inside at the blonde waves and bright blue eyes that had tortured him for so long.

“Oh...I'd really love to talk to you sometime,” she said.

“About what?”

“There's so much I need to say,” she said.

She looked up at him with sadness in her eyes and he didn't get why.

“Are you alright?” he pressed.

“Can you meet me tonight for a drink, please?”

“Shane probably wouldn't like that,” he answered.

“I'm not with Shane anymore."

“You aren't?”

“Can you meet me at O'Hanlon's tonight? 9 pm?”

“Sure.”

“It's really good to see you,” she smiled.

“You too.”

Andrea was gone then and he sighed as it all came flooding back. She was single now but that didn't mean she wanted him and he wasn't presuming anything.

/

Merle ate the steak he was looking forward to at home but could barely focus on the taste as he stared at the clock. He'd save the whisky for when he got home, he just wanted to get this thing with Andrea over with. She had all the control once again and he almost resented it. All she had to do was look at him that way like she needed him somehow, and he was gone again and wanting her. He pulled on his new leather jacket to head downtown to the Irish pub where she would hold Christmas parties and found her at a table in the back. He brought her a black and tan and ordered himself a Guinness.

“Thanks,” she nodded as he came to sit down across from her.

“No problem.”

“I've been thinking about what I want to say to you and I think this might be the best way to start.”

She picked up her phone and started scrolling as he took a long sip of his drink and waited. She looked like a million and a half dollars in a little black dress and that golden hair falling onto her shoulders. Why couldn't she just tone her beauty down a little to make this easier?

She handed him her phone and he started to read text messages, it was the last conversation they had but it continued on after he blocked her number. This message hadn't gotten through to him, it remained on her phone with a 'message did not send' notice beside it.

_**Merle, I didn't know you had any feelings for me. I'm just confused right now. Things aren't going well with Shane and if I'm being honest...I think it has something to do with you, but I can't cheat. I know how shitty that feels and I just can't do it to anyone else. I just need a little time to figure this out. It just happened so fast and I didn't know what to say. Please call me back and don't quit.** _

He handed her back the phone but still didn't know what to say.

“I broke up with Shane the very next day and I came by your place after work but you were already gone.”

“Are you serious?” he exclaimed.

“It just happened so fast. As soon as I had a chance to really process it...I couldn't stop thinking of you, but then you were gone.”

“Jesus.”

“I've been driving past your place every night on the way home from work just to see if your truck is there...for 6 weeks I've been losing my mind wanting to talk to you,” she pressed.

“I didn't know,” he muttered.

“I realized that I didn't want to move in with Shane because he just wasn't the one and that if he was, it wouldn't matter that I wasn't ready. The more I couldn't get a hold of you, the more it dawned on me that I'd make that jump with you if you asked me to. I wouldn't give a damn about being ready.”

“You have no idea how this is blowing my mind,” he exhaled.

He could feel the agony she'd been feeling from across the table and he was ready to end all the bullshit. He just wanted to touch her.

“I wish I had done everything differently that night...I just didn't see it coming. If I could go back, I would have invited you in for the night,” she said softly and his body responded to her obvious signals.

“Do you wanna get outta here?” he suggested and just like that they were up and out of the pub.

They took separate cars to her place and he arrived first, pacing in front of her house like a teenager about to get lucky for the very first time.

She pulled into the driveway and Merle was on her as she was putting the key in the door. He needed her and the feeling hadn't died down one bit, it was at its height now. She tossed her purse to the floor in the entryway and pulled him to her mouth in the dark with such ferocity he wondered who was in greater need between the two of them.

Merle walked her back to the wall of the foyer and kissed her deep and hard, reaching down to pull her leg up and around his waist. She was grabbing at his coat and pushing it back off his shoulders in no time and he pulled her dress over her head to get close to her pure white skin. He bit at her throat and she threaded her fingers through his hair.

“I wanted you so badly,” he panted as he stripped her bra from her body.

He could feel that she needed it fast and wild just like he did. The gravity of the wasted time wasn't lost on either of them and grasping hands couldn't move fast enough.

“I asked around about you...nobody knew where you were," she panted. “I was so worried.”

“I was trying to forget you but I could never get you outta my head completely. As soon as I saw you it was all right there again. I'm always gonna want you.”

“I need you. I just kept thinking of that kiss. I felt so stupid to stop it.”

“Just don't stop me now.”

“Never.”

She wrestled his pants off and he ran his hands down her bare legs, taking in the softness of her skin. They only made it to her couch and decided swiftly that it didn't matter where it happened as long as it happened fast.

She wound up on his lap in her panties and he pulled her breasts to his mouth with both hands planted firmly on her back.

“Oh my God!!!” she moaned as he sucked her nipples one after the other; kissing, licking, and sucking hungrily.

/

Andrea ground herself on his lap through his boxers and felt how impossibly hard he was beneath her. The thoughts of him that tortured her over the last 6 weeks were all fading into a blur of lust and fire.

“I need you in me fast...I gotta have you now.”

Andrea knew that they'd make love slowly very soon, maybe the very next day, but this had to be fast and she wasn't fighting that.

Merle stood up long enough to strip off his boxers and she stepped out of her panties like lightning just to jump back into his lap and kiss him feverishly. He held her face in his hands and repeated how much he loved her.

She slid down his dick then and his eyes rolled back in his head. He was big and she felt him everywhere. Andrea rode him steadily, not too fast or slow, just steady and she could feel his cock stroking her front wall; it wouldn't be long before she was losing it.

Merle grabbed her breasts and worked them over just right as the sensation rose up in the pit of her belly. She fucked him and the gentle nudge of his body against her clit was getting her there so easily. He pulled her in then with his two big hands on her ass and the little bit of added pressure tipped the scales.

“Oh fuck!” she whined. “That's right....oh my God!”

He grinned as she rode out her pleasure on his dick and in a heartbeat he had her laying on the living room carpet pulling her legs up to rest her ankles on his shoulders. He looked down at her as he nailed her into oblivion and she never felt so high before. Andrea wanted to go back to that night so badly and kick her own ass for ever having to think twice, but at least she had him now.


End file.
